Thursday, October 6, 2011

Chicagoing: Exploring Turn-of-the-Century Urban Parks

It was in a tiny, roadside restaurant, on our way to St. Louis, that I had a major Chicago discovery: we have a lot of amazing turn-of-the-century parks. Parks with formal floral gardens, duck-filled lagoons, outrageous fountains, incredible architecture, and amazing history. And it was through this vintage poster on the restaurant wall that we made a plan to explore some of the city's historic gems, and scope out some potential SociaBulls walks.
Luckily for us, we have some amazing friends who live near Washington and Jackson parks, and took us on a tour. Both gorgeous Charlie:

And handsome Sprocket were quite excited to show us their neighborhood:

The neighborhood is filled with tree-lined streets and historical homes. Washington Park is completely enormous and makes you feel like you're not even in the city. They were planning on hosting the Olympics in this park, and it is currently home to a hip-hop circus. Plus they have an outrageous fountain:

Where Charlie took a quick dip:

It is linked to Jackson Park through the Midway Plaisance which was actually home to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair which is depicted in this amazing book. You can't take a ride on the El without seeing at least one person reading it. Besides strolling through these amazing parks, you can also see the University of Chicago campus, and Obama's Chicago home.